DUKE 
UNIVERSITY 


DIVINITY SCHOOL 
LIBRARY 


* 


- SERMON, 


DELIVERED BEFORE 


HIS EXCELLENCY JOHN BROOKS, ESQ. 


4 
GOVERNOR, 


HIS HONOR WILLIAM PHILLIPS, ESQ. 


LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR, © 


S 


THE HONORABLE COUNCIL, 


-, ; + 2 
ay AND THE TWO HOUSES COMPOSING THE 


LEGISLATURE OF MASSACHUSETTS, 
ON THE 2 
ANNIVERSARY ELECTION, 


7 MAY 30, 1821. 


« 


Wy Henry Ware, D. D. 
Hollis Professor of Divinity, in Harvard University. 


BOSTON: 


PRINTED FOR B. RUSSELL, PRINTER TO THE STATE. 
Russell & Gardner, Printers. 


Commonwealth of Massachusetts. 


IN SENATE, MAY 31, 1821. 


Ordered, That the Hon. Messrs. Williams, Tilden, and King, 
be a Committee to wait upon the Rev. Henry Ware, and in the 
name of the Senate, to thank him for the Sermon by him deliv- 
ered before His Excellency the Governor, the Lieutenant Gov- 
ernor, the Hon. Council, and the two Branches of the Legislature,” 
and to request a copy thereof for the press. 


ATTEST, 


S. F. McCLEARY, Clerk. 


2 ee rg a 
a 
‘ 


SERMON. 


l 


ACTS........ CHAPTER XVII. VERSE 26. 


« And hath made of one blood all nations of men, for to dwell on 
all the face of the earth.” 


IN no point does our religion present itself to 
us with a deeper interest, in nothing does it recom- 
mend itself more strongly to cultivated minds, than in 
the representations it gives of the character of God, his 
relation to his creatures, and his dispositions towards 
them. That he is the creator of all things, and that 
all beings are the work of his hands, is not the only, 
nor is it the principal consideration that it offers to us. 
Images of a more tender kind are frequently present- 
ed, and he is declared to sustain a relation, which im- 
plies more of interest, and expresses more of nearness 
and affection. ‘The author of our being stands in the 
relation of a father to us; and we are declared to be 
his children, for whom he feels a parental kindness ; 
over whom he holds a father’s authority. ‘The same 
God, also, is to be acknowledged as the father of men 
of all nations. Nor only so; he has made them, as 
my text asserts, all of one blood, to possess a com- 
mon nature as well, as to have a common origin; and 
thus to sustain not only the same relation of children 
to a common parent, but also that of brethren to 
each other. 


This double relation in which our religion repre- 
sents us as sustaining toward the author of our being, 


4 


: 
and toward one another, is closely connected with 
many of the most important duties as well, as th 
highest interests of the social state. It regulates the 
dispositions and the conduct, which individuals owe 
to each other. It relates also to those, which are due 
from collective bodies of men, from communities and 
states one toward another. It prescribes the princi- 
ples, upon which the members of a government are 
bound to act, in the conflicting interests of the commu-— 
nity or ciate, which they represent, and for which 
they act, and other communities, or individuals of the 
same, or of another community. 


Indeed there is nothing in the mtercourse of men 
with each other, in any of the political, or civil, or 
social relations, which will not be affected by a just 
view of this universal relation, which binds together 
and embraces in one, the whole human family. 


I have thought the subject not an unsuitable one 
to be addressed, on the present occasion, to an assem- 
bly of christian rulers; as it suggests a principle, which 
should serve as a guide to them, in all their endeavors 
to promote the public good. 


While our religion teaches expressly the doctrine 
of the text, the spirit which it every where inculcates, 
and the whole system of its precepts are of a character 
correspondent to those relations, the nature and the 
obligations of which it discovers tous. On the one 
hand, it is every where implied, that all men of every 
nation owe the same obedience to the common father 
of our race, are alike objects of his eare, subjects of 
his moral government, accountable to him, equally ca- 
pable of obtaming his approbation, and securing his 
favor by holiness, « or of forfeiting it by sin, and a life: 
of impenitence. This view, while it leads us to a just 
sense of the duty we owe to the author of our being, is 
calculated also to give us enlarged and liberal notions 


; 
: 


A 


: 
: 
: 


5 


respecting our fellow-men, and to prepare us to honor, 
esteem, and love them. 


On the other hand, every where in the same man- 
ner is implied the obligation of universal good will to 
one another, grounded on the same considerations ; the 
common origin of our race, our common allegiance to 
the universal parent, and the relation we sustain to 
each other as brethren. 


We see then the design and the tendency of our 
religion in a point of view, in which it displays its 
most amiable and attractive features, and exerts its 
noblest powers. Not exclusive but comprehensive is 
its spirit. Not to separate but to combine, not to drive 
men asunder, but to unite them together, and bind 
them by new ties of interest and affection is its ten- 
dency. Breathing kindness and good will all around, 
it produces, not hatred and hostility, not mutual inju- 
ries and deeds of violence, but love, and harmony, and 
peace. Not within a narrow circle is its attractive 
power confined—repelling all that is beyond. ‘There 
are no limits, beyond which its attractions are unfelt. 
It reaches beyond the bounds, which limit all the other 
principles of union, which operate upon the human 
mind, and draw men together. Beyond those of in- 
terest and personal affection. Beyond those of family, 
of nation, of country. It embraces every country, 
every nation, every region, and all the families and 
tribes of men. And throughout the whole range of its 
local influence, how various are the effects it produces! 
Tts design is no less, than that of putting down all that 
is narrow, and selfish, and exclusive and hostile, in 
the intercourse of men, in the institutions of society, 
in the customs that prevail, in the feelings that are 
cherished. It is to break down all those walls of par- 
tition, which pride, and selfishness, and passion, and 
jealousy, and prejudice, and fear, have erected, be- 
tween nations, and between the several tribes and 


6 


families of men. It is to sweep away the barriers 
which local prejudice or interest have raised up, be- 
tween those who inhabit different regions of the earth, 
or different portions of the same country. It is to an- 
nihilate the odious distinctions, which are grounded 
on- difference of colour, and feature, and form, and 
manners, and laws, and government, and religion, and 
usages; distinctions, which have laid the foundation 
and furnished the pretext, of so much of the violence, 
and oppression, and slavery, and. war, that has dis- 
figured and disgraced the world in all ages, and ren- 
dered it too often a scene of hostility and blood, and 
desolation. It is, not indeed to do away entirely, 
but to reduce and soften, and to check all that is 
unkind and revolting in those distinctions, of which 
the providence of God, or human institutions have laid 
the foundation, in the conditions of men of the same 
community ; between the rich man and the poor, the 
learned and the ignorant, the master and the ser- 
vant, the parent and the child, the public officer, and 
the private citizen. For, in those institutions, through 
the instrumentality of which it produces all its great 
and salutary effects, it presents one spot, where all 
human distinctions are levelled. There, in the temple 
of the Most High ; in the presence of Him, who alone 
is great, all human greatness disappears, and the rich 
and the poor, the prince and the peasant, the bond and 
the free, meet together upon equal terms. 


These are the offices, in which our religion exerts 
its power, and displays its excellence. ‘Thus does it 
cause men of different nations and of distant regions, 
to lay aside their spirit of hostility, to treat each 
other with justice, and kindness, and good faith; to 
live in peace, and in the interchange, as they have 
opportunity, of offices of good will. ‘Thus does it bind 
together citizens of the same state, and members of the 
same community, by ties, that no competition of inter- 
est, or conflict of opinion, or difference of education, or 


7 


variety of manners, have power to dissolve. Thus 
does it prostrate all those factitious, unnatural, artificial 
distinctions, which pride, and selfishness, and preju- 
dice, and the love of power, have introduced ; leaving 
only those, which the God of nature has established, 
and which are essential to the order, and peace, and 
well being of the moral and social system. 


And all these effects it produces, without disturb- 
ing the regular course of human affairs, as established 
by the institutions of society ; without interfering with 
any legitimate rights ; without diminishing the author- 
ity of human government, or preventing the full ex- 
ercise and influence of those private affections, and 
personal attachments, which belong to the domestic 
relations ; or those which bind a man to his country, to 
the land that gave him birth, and to the society, with 
which are connected all his interests and attachments, 
and all the duties of a social being. 


But christianity has sometimes been reproached 
with teaching the obligation of universal benevolence 
and good will i in a manner, which leaves no room for 
the private affections, no room for particular friendship, 
for any of the peculiar duties of the near relations, or 
those, which a man owes to his country. And it has 
been objected to it that, in the same spirit, it requires 
meekness, forbearance, and abstinence from resistance 
in a manner, that is incompatible with the rights of self- 
defence, and the authority of human government. But — 
it is important to show, and it may be shown in the 
most satisfactory manner, that our religion is not liable 
to this charge; and that it is a mistaken view, and a 
false representation of its character, which subjects it 
to such an imputation. Ii is important for us to un- 
derstand how far from the truth is the charge, that our 
religion is unfriendly to the full exercise and expres- 
sion of the private and. particular affections; those 
affections which are due from a man to his country, 


8 


his kindred, his family, his friends; that it either 
renders him insensible to those relations, or that it re- 
quires of him any thing, that is incompatible with 
either of them. Certain it is, that the enlarged and 
comprehensive spirit of the gospel has nothing in it © 
adverse to private affection, and personal attachment. 
Its office is to control, to limit, and to give a right di- 
rection to the private and particular affections, not to 
destroy them, nor to set them aside. 


By enlarging the circle through which its influ- 
ence extends, it does not diminish the warmth with 
which it glows nearer the centre. While it carries 
abroad your affections, as far as there are objects, on 
which they can fall, and your good wishes and good 
offices as far, as there are beings to be benefitted by 
them, it permits and encourages a peculiar and 
warmer affection, a nearer interest, and a more ac- 
tive care toward your family, your friends, your 
neighbors, the members of the society to which you 
belong, your country; and you are bound to seek 
their good in a manner, and to a degree, in which you 
are not bound toward any, who are beyond those 
relations. But you are not to forget, that these 
affections and these obligations, though peculiar and 
specific, are not exclusive. They are not to diminish 
your affections, nor to relieve vou from your duty to 
strangers ; and those who are distant. ‘They are not 
to be indulged and followed, where they would inter- 
fere with the obligations of general humanity, and the 
offices of kindness and good will, which are due to all. 


But we are invited by this occasion to contemplate 
the spirit of christianity chiefly in relation to its influ- 
ence upon the conduct of men, who in public stations 
are acting for the public; and particularly upon the le- 
gislative and executive government of the state. Now, 
whether we consider those duties of a government,which 
arise from the relations of the state or nation to other 


9 


states, or its relation to its own citizens, christianity 
will require of each man, who has a share in adminis- 
tering the government, to act upon a higher and broad- 
er principle, than those common maxims of worldly 
policy, which are usually considered as sufficient to 
indicate to him the course he should pursue. Ac- 
cording to these maxims and rules, the highest motive 
by which he is to be guided is what is called patriot- 
ism, or the love of country; and it is enough, if he 
faithfully devote himself to the interests of his country, 
if he pursue its prosperity, and seek its good with a 
steady zeal, and a single aim. If he suffer no personal 
interest to come in competition with it, so as to make 
him prefer the private to the public good, he is thought 
to act with sufficiently enlarged views, and from mo- 
tives sufficiently elevated and disinterested. But our 
religion demands of him something more. While it 
approves and cherishes the love of country, and itself 
prompts to every proper deed by which the love of 
country can be expressed, it requires that it be con- 
trolled and limited by a higher and more enlarged 
principle, that of general benevolence; a principle 
which will not allow him to advance the interests of 
his own country upon the ruins of another; which will 
not permit him, from any prospect of advantage to his 
own country, to invade the rights of another, or to 
commit any act of injustice or oppression, or cruelty. 
Patriotism in its true and proper import is entirely co- 
incident with the spirit of christianity. In this large 


~~ and liberal sense, it is inculcated by all those precepts 


of the Saviour and his Apostles, which tend to the 
peace and order of society, which require subjection 
to lawful authority, and promote rational liberty. It 
was exemplified by the Saviour himself in an affecting 
manner, when he wept over the approaching calami- 
ties of his country, and expostulated with her for that 
irreclaimable wickedness, which was bringing down 
upon her the vengeance of Heaven. And it appears 
with lively interest in the example of the Apostle 
2 


10 


Paul, expressing a readiness to suffer himself for his 
brethren, could he but thus save them from the pun- 
ishment they had incurred, and which was about to 

fall upon them. . 


But that patriotism, which stops short of this, has 
little claim to our respect; it has no title to so honor- 
able a name. Indeed, whatever name it may assume, - 
that is in fact but selfishness, a little disguised, and a 
little refined, which limits its affections, its exertions, 
its duties, and its cares, wholly to its own country ; 
and regards all beyond without sympathy, and as hay- 
ing no claims upon our benevolence or justice. For 
what is the character, and what the source and motive 
of that patriotism, which is thus limited and stinted, 
and makes not a part of universal benevolence, but is 
exclusive of it and stands opposed to it? The patriot 
of this school loves his country; but it is only because 
that country embraces all his own interests, compre- 
hends all his friends; its prosperity is his own pros- 
perity, that of his family, that of his children. In 
providing for it, and seeking to promote it, he is ma- 
king the best and only sure provision for himself and 
his family. His own well-being and prosperity, his 
own honor and aggrandizement are identified with 
those of the state, and must rise or fall with it. All — 
this is very well, but it has little praise. Christian 
patriotism is prompted by a higher motive, and is goy- 
erned by other rules. It remembers the words of the 
Saviour, when he asks, “If ye love them that love 
you, if ye do good to them that do good to you, if ye 
salute them that salute you, what thanks have ye?””— 
The obligations of love, of good offices, and of courte- 
sy, he confines not to his friends. He acknowledges 
the obligation of good will and good deeds, where there 
can be no return, and where there is no personal inter- 
est. He feels himself bound, to do justice to all, to 
wish well to all; and as he has opportunity to do good, 
not to his brethren, his kindred, his countrymen only, 
but to all. 


It 


How frequently will it happen, that in a compe- 
tition of interests and conflict of rights between his own 
country and a neighboring state, the demands of jus- 
tice and the calls of patriotism shall seem at variance. 
Justice to another state, requires him to forego impor- 
tant advantages, and will not allow him to avail him- 
self in behalf of his own country, of opportunities for 
securing to her advantages, which would give her an as- 
cendency over her neighbors. In such cases, what is 
the course, which patriotism, as it has been usually 
understood, and the common and approved maxims of 
worldly policy, will dictate? Will he, who has no 
higher principle to govern his conduct, hesitate to seek 
the aggrandizement of his own nation at the expense 
of neighboring or distant states? ‘Will he feel himself 
bound to forego the opportunity of raising his own 
country to power, or wealth, or greatness, when he 
knows it can only be effected by taking undue advan- 
tages of the situation or the necessities of another ; by 
measures, which tend in equal degree to their impoy- 
erishment, depression, and ruin? Will he refuse, 
will he not even feel himself required by the principles 
of patriotism which he professes, to give a check, if it 
be in his power to that prosperity of a neighboring 
state, which stands in the way of that of his own? 
There is no doubt, I presume, what answer the histo- 
ry of nations and of governments will report to these 
questions. 


But christian morality is of a more pure and ele- 
vated and disinterested character; and christian patri- 
otism founded on it, revolts at the thought of deriving 
a benefit from another’s wrong; of building his coun- 
try’s glory, and greatness, and posterity, on the ruins 
of another people. It enkindles an ardent zeal for his 
country’s good. It impels him to all honorable and 
virtuous means for its promotion; to faithful exer- 
tions, to heroic personal sacrifices. It makes him 
ready to do and to suffer for the public safety and 
welfare. But it authorizes no act that is inconsistent 


12 


with the rights, or that must impair the prosperity of 
another country, or another individual. The christian 
patriot will no sooner pursue measures to erect his 
country’s glory, on the ruins of another people; to 
advance her power and prosperity by conquest, op- 
pression, or slavery; or by any methods of checking 
the prosperity of a rival state, bringing a great evil 
upon it for the sake of some benefit to itself, or draw- 
ing off to itself the sources of its wealth, and the means 
of its safety, than he would raise his own private for- 
tunes on the ruins of his country, or the injury of his 
neighbors. 


Occasions may occur again, and they are likely 
to be frequent, in which the local interest of that sec- 
tion of the state, in which you live, and which you 
immediately represent, may stand in competition with 
the general interest of the state, or of some other part 
of it; and would be advanced by measures, that must 
prove hurtful to the whole, or to some other part. In. 
such cases, a legislator, whose views of duty are nar- 
row and contracted ; who considers himself as acting 
for a part, and not for the whole ; who is guided by no 
higher principle than a selfish policy, will prefer the 
private to the public good, will seek the particular at 
the expense of the general interest; will favor the 
views and wishes of one part of the community, where 
he knows he must by the same act, bring injury, dis- 
tress, and loss, perhaps ruin, upon another, with which 
he is personally less connected, and to whose interests 
he feels himself less strongly bound. 


How different, in each of these cases, will be the 
conduct of him, who carries with him into his public 
conduct, the enlarged views and liberal feelings of the 
gospel !—Who, in being a legislator, a statesman, or 
a magistrate, does not forget, that he is yet a christian! 
Does not forget, that as all men are brethren, of one 
blood, of one parentage, of one nature, all are entitled 
alike and equally to the same measure of justice, and 


13 


kindness, and humanity. He will revolt at the thought 
of the aggrandizement of his own country by a viola- 
tion of that justice and humanity, which are due to 
another people; of advancing the interest of that 
portion of the country which he inhabits, by that which 
impoverishes, or lessens the prosperity of another 
part; or of attaining to personal ease, or affluence, or 
honor, by a course of measures, which bring undeserv- 
ed disgrace, or poverty, or misfortune upon any other 
individual, however remote and unconnected. 


Such, my respected hearers, is the general duty 
of all, and especially of those, who, in the important 
offices of government, are to watch over the public in- 
terests, and to give a direction to the public transac- 
tions ; a duty resulting from the consideration, that 
God has made all men of one blood, that all constitute 
one great community. There are some particular 
things, which by the consideration of this tie, by 
which all are bound together, and of the duties impli- 
ed in it, the rulers of a christian community will keep 
in view in all their exertions for the public good. In 
the first place, in all measures, which have any influ- 
ence on the relations of the whole, or the mutual rela- 
tions of the several parts of the state, they will pursue 
a pacific policy. No measure will receive counten- 
ance and support, which has an evident tendency to 
interrupt, either with surrounding states, or between 
the several portions of the state, or of its citizens, the 
relations of peace, and the interchange of friendly 
offices. Care will be taken, that none be adopted ; 
that are calculated to nourish a spirit of hostility, to 
awaken mutual jealousies or party prejudices, or to 
excite any of those passions, which alienate the mem- 
bers of the same community from each other, or by 
which their pursuits or their interests become irrecon- 
cileable. I need not say how adverse the spirit of war 
is to the spirit of the gospel; nor how well it becomes 
a christian government, by a just and humane, and 
liberal policy, both in respect to its external and in- 


14 


ternal relations, to keep peace with all, and to en- 
deavor to hasten the universal establishment of the 
kingdom of the Prince of Peace, and the universal 
reign of that righteousness and peace, which it was to 
introduce into our world. 


Another circumstance, of which a christian goy- 
ernment will never lose sight, is, its duty to protect 
the personal liberty and maintain the equal rights 
of all. It is not required, in order fo this, to bring 
all men to the same level by destroying those distinc- 
tions, which the constitution of nature has established, 
or the institutions of society have sanctioned. Equal- 
. ity of rights may remain amidst all the varieties of 
condition, and talents, and acquisitions, and character. 
It stands opposed to exclusive privileges, by which 
one section of the country, or one class of its citizens 
is enriched or aggrandized at the expense of another, 
or has advantages granted to it, which are denied 
to others under similar circumstances. It stands op- 
posed to any favor or preference shown in the fra- 
ming of laws, or in their execution to one political sect 
over another, or to one denomination of christians 
over another. It is opposed to the subjection of any 
portion of the inhabitants of a country to a state of in- 
voluntary servitude, to the loss of personal liberty, 
or of any of their civil or political rights, which have 
not been forfeited by crimes, that render their continu- 
ing to possess them inconsistent with the public safety. 
It is opposed, in fine, to every thing in the structure, 
and in the administration of the government of the 
state, which implies partiality, which grants te some, 
what it denies to others, under similar circumstances. 
It will be the care of a wise and righteous government 
to carry a steady hand, and maintain an impartial 
course, amidst the constant and ardent struggles for 
superiority and particular favor, which employ so 
much of the activity and zeal of the several religious 
and political sects, into which every community is 
divided, and the competition of each class of citizens 


15 


to gain some advantages over other classes, and of 
each individual over other individuals of the same 
class. 

Another, and it is the only other leading object I 
shall mention, will be to make provision for extending 
the means of good education to every section of the 
country, and to every class of the inhabitants. By 
the constitution of our nature we all come into being 
upon equal terms; equally helpless, equally dependent, 
and equally objects of the complacency and the care of 
our common parent. But, no sooner are we born into 
the world, than more circumstances, than can be named 
or imagined, contribute to destroy this original equality, 
and to produce that infinite variety, which we find, in 
the condition, and in the characters of men. The dif- 
erent discipline to which we were from the first sub- 
jected:: the different fidelity or neglect of our parents in 
our early instruction; the different influences, to which 
We were exposed by the examples usually before our 
eyes in our early years ; casual associations, to which in 
early and in maturer years we were introduced ; differ- 
ence of industry, of activity, of enterprize, when we 
came to engage in the business of life; difference of 
occupation, to which choice, or accident, or necessity, 
or parental authority may have destined us; by all 
these, and numberless other circumstances, this equal- 
ity of nature soon disappears, and human society is 
made up of an infinite variety of all extremes. Now 
it should be the great object of a christian government, 
keeping steadily in view the common origin of all, 
‘formed of one blood,” to restore, as far as can be 
done by proper means, that original equality from 
which men have departed so far. And this is to be 
effected, not by an arbitrary equalization of property, 
and levelling of all distinctions of rank and power, 
which industry and education, and talents, cannot fail 
to give ; and which they must soon restore again, were 
they taken away by violence ; but by correcting as far, 
as it is in their power, the source from which the 


16 


difference between one man and another in all these 
respects, has in a great measure sprung. It is by pro- 
viding that the means of education shall be extended 
to all. That education I mean, which is not confined 
to the rudiments of knowledge, but which relates also to 
all the principles and habits of an intellectual, a moral, 
and immortal being ; a member of the social body, and 
a subject of the moral government of God. It is by 
multiplying the means and perfecting the system of 
intellectual, moral, and religious education in general, 
and by allowing no portion of the country, and no 
class or description of its inhabitants to be left by the 
necessity of their condition without them. It is by 
urging home to the very bosoms of men, the induce- 
ments to use the means and opportunities that are 
offered them, for themselves, and for their children. 
It is to press upon men the motives to habits of indus- 
try, frugality, sobriety and temperance. It is to 
encourage, by legal provisions and by their example, 
institutions and associations, which piety, humanity 
and patriotism have suggested, for promoting these 
most benevolent purposes. 


It is the distinguishing glory of the age in which we 
live, to abound beyond all former example in the exer- 
tions of voluntary associations for preventing indigence 
and for mitigating its evils; for suppressing vice, and 
for encouraging and promoting industry, frugality, econ- 
omy, and habits of temperance and virtue, and for send- 
ing that religious knowledge, which may form the whole 
character, and influence the whole condition of life, home 
to the families and firesides of those, who might never 
have been induced to put themselves in the way of re- 
ceiving it. It is the spirit of that religion, which teaches, 
that we have all one father, and that we are all breth- 
ren, that is producing these effects ; that is thus seeking 
to bring men nearer together, not by impoverishing 
the wealthy, but by enriching the poor; not by bring- 
ing down the lofty, but by raising the low; not by 
levelling the distinctions of learning, and wisdom and 


17 


virtue, but by enlightening the ignorant, and raising 
men from the degradation of folly and the corruptions 
of vice to the elevation of the wise and the virtuous. 


I observe, that it is the spirit of our religion, that 
is producing all these effects. But how late have 
christians been in learning this application of its prin- 
ciples, and this method of accomplishing its design! 
How partial and limited still in the christian world is 
the application of the great principles and spirit of the 
gospel to public transactions, and the conduct of gov- 
ernments. Not only has it been overlooked in the 
intercourse of nations with each other, so that they 
have regarded each other as natural enemies, rather 
than as brethren of one great family; but it has been 
unacknowledged and unthought of in the relation that 
subsists between the government and the citizens of the 
same state. How long were christians in coming, 
from the fact, that “all were made of one blood,” to 
the just conclusion respecting the natural freedom and 
equality with which men are born into the world! It 
is a lesson, indeed, which most christian nations have 
still to learn. Principles are acknowledged and prac- 
tices pursued, that are utterly irreconcileable with that 

‘natural equality as to rights, which is the basis of all 
republican government, and which is implied in the 
relation of all to a common parent, which christianity 
teaches. Instead of this, it is practically admitted, 
that some are born to rule, and others to be subjects, 
some to possess power and rights, and others to have 
only the privilege, to obey and to suffer. And so long 
have the nations of the earth submitted to this unnat- 
ural state, so long have the many been subjected to 
the control and disposal of the few, that they have 
lost the power of self government and self direction. 
The chains they have worn so long, that they have 
grown into the flesh, and are not safely to be removed. 
Men have so long been without power, that there is 
reason to apprehend théy would make a fatal use of 
it, were it suddenly put into their hands. So long 

3 


18. 


have they been without liberty, and without rights, 
that they require time: and discipline to teach them 
their value and their use, before it would be safe to 
entrust them in their hands. The evidence of this © 
state of things, we have in the current events of the 
day, and in the history of the last thirty years. Men 
have been accustomed in most countries to pay their 
homage to hereditary power, and to be dazzled and 
awed by its external insignia, till they are unable to 
perceive the immeasurable distance between that which 
is intrinsic, and that which is adventitious in human 
greatness ; to perceive how far the chief magistrate of 
a nation or state, elevated to the chair. of government 
by his talents and his virtues, and placed in it by the 
free suffrages of an enlightened people, rises above 
him who is seated, by the mere chance of his birth, 
upon a throne, whatever the splendour and power 
with which it is surrounded. 


Our religion teaches us, that God has made all 
men of one blood, and that we are ali brethren; but 
by the institutions of society in some countries, and by 
common usages and the prevailing practice in almost 
all, one might well be led to suppose, that men believ- 
ed themselves to be wholly unrelated to each other ; 
that the several nations of the earth, and the several 
classes of the inhabitants of each country had no com- 
mon origin, and no common interest. Confirmation of 
this opinion we should find in the general hostility 
manifested by the several nations toward each other. 
It has been such, that in all countries and in all ages, 
it has been reckoned one of the highest virtues of a 
citizen, to love his own country, and to seek her good, 
exclusively of all others, in a manner irreconcileable 
with the obligations of general benevolence, and with 
the notion of a common nature, common origin, and the 
relation of brethren belonging to all. Patriotism ac- 
cordingly in the political vocabulary is defined to be a 
narrow, exclusive passion, which permits, if it does 
not even require us, to hate all the rest of mankind, 


19 


whenever the supposed glory, or interest of our country 
comes in competition with that of any portion of man- 
kind, who are out of those limits. We should find it 
also in the selfishness, and cruelties, and oppressions 
that are permitted in all countries; in the degrada- 
tion and abject servitude to which, in many countries, 
a large portion of the population is born, as their nat- 
ural inheritance, and inevitable lot, from the odious 
distinction of casts so disgraceful to pagans in the 
eastern hemisphere, to the still more horrible system 
of African and American slavery, by which so indeli- 
ble a stain is fixed upon christians in the western. 


That christians in other countries, besides our 
own, are beginning to understand, better than they have 
done, the spirit and the demands of their religion, and 
to apply it to correct the abuses of government, its 
false principles and maxims, and the evils of the social 
state, is a just cause of joy, and a reasonable ground 
of hope. ‘That a cause against which so many pas- 
sions, and prejudices, and interests are armed, should 
meet with opposition, and occasionally fail of success, 
is what we are to expect. But of its eventual pre- 
valence, and final triumph, we have a sure pledge 
in the effects already achieved, and in the engines 
which are brought into activity to accomplish the rest ; 
but above all in the assurance that it is the cause of 
humanity, the cause of truth, the cause of God—and 
that God will own and vindicate his cause. 


There are several circumstances, which give pe- 
culiar interest to the present occasion, and furnish 
unusual reasons for public joy and gratulation. I 
shall confine myself to the mention of two. 


The first is the public sense, so clearly expressed 
in the recent election, of satisfaction in the past admin- 
istration of the government of the state. As the highest 
reward that those, who serve the public, can receive, 
is to know, that their services have been acceptable ; 


20 


that their well meant endeavors to promote the public 
good have been successful, and have met the approba- 
tion of their fellow citizens: so is there no method, 
by which the public sentiment respecting the adminis- 
tration of government can be so distinctly expressed, 
as by the reappointment of the same persons to the 
important offices of the state. 


In the reelection of those distinguished citizens to 
the two first offices in the government, whose faithful 
services, in high stations and important trusts, the publie 
has enjoyed for so many years; and in the return of 
so large a proportion of the Senators and Representa- 
tives of the last year to compose the Legislature of the 
present; an honorable testimony is given of the public 
satisfaction in the wisdom, fidelity and usefulness of 
their past services, and of the general confidence which 
they have inspired. We contemplate the fact also in 
a still higher view: as an assurance to us of the 
strength and stability of our institutions, and of the 
good sense and good spirit of the community; and 
that there is intelligence enough in the people to ena- 
ble them to understand when they are faithfully served 
by those, in whose hands they entrust the public in- 
terests ; and correct principles enough to approve and 
to encourage public virtue, public spirit, and upright 
and well directed services. 


While we notice, and mention on this occasion 
with great satisfaction, these tokens of a wise and 
faithful administration of the civil government, of the 
public prosperity and tranquility, which are its natural 
consequence, and the general expression of approba- 
tion it has received; we regard it, also, as a promise 
of the future. 1t invites us to confident hope, and the 
indulgence of pleasant anticipations of the future man- 
agement of the interests of the state. It enables us to 
feel assured, that the administration of the government, 
will be committed hereafter, as it has been hitherto, 
to able and faithful hands; and that the people, after 


i ie 


21 


exercising with sound judgment and due care their 
right, in the selection of those, to whom their most 
important interests are to be intrusted, will be reason- 
_ able and just in the judgment they pass afterwards 
upon the manner in which the trust has been executed ; 
and ready to express their approbation and gratitude, 
wherever they shall have been merited by a steady 
pursuit of the public good. 

The other circumstance, to which I alluded, as 
imparting a peculiar interest to this, beyond what we 
have felt upon similar occasions, is the evidence we 
have had the opportunity of witnessing in the course 
of the past year, of the general satisfaction of our 
citizens in the principles and form of the government 
itself. The people have been called upon to express 
their opinion, not only as they have annually oppor- 
tunity to do, of the administration, but also of the 
constitution of our government. The result is the 
most gratifying, the most encouraging, and the most 
honorable, that could have been anticipated. It has 
exhibited a new proof of the soundness of those prin- 
ciples upon which our government is founded. It has 
taught us what before was doubtful, and must have re- 
mained so until the doubt was removed by such an 
example, the practicability of perpetuating republican 
principles and republican institutions. We have now 
to offer, in proof of the stability of republican institu- 
tions, the example of a people, to whom, after an ex- 
periment of forty years, the form of their government 
has again been submitted for revision, to be wholly 
set aside, or altered, or preserved entire, according as 
experience shall have taught them to regard it as sound 
in its principles and forms, or defective, or radically 
wrong. That it has passed through the trial, to which 
it was subjected, without any injury, with so few alter- 
ations, and with all its important original features un- 
changed; while it is so honorable to the prospective 
wisdom of the illustrious men, its original framers, re- 
flects not less honor upon the wisdom of the equally 


22 


great men, who were appointed to revise the instru- 
ment $ and upon the good sense and moderation of the 
people i in the primary assemblies, to whose final deci- 
sion the amendments which it was thought proper to 
make in it, were submitted. We have learned, what 
it is most consoling and encouraging to know, that 
there is not in them that restlessness and love of 
change, which would make them willing, in pursuit 
of an unattainable object, to put at hazard all that is 
valuable in their civil institutions. 


There is probably no other country on earth, where 
the same experiment could have been made with safe- 
ty; and it may be doubted whether, in every part of 
this, it could have been done with equal probability 
of a favorable issue. If it be asked, to what it is to 
be attributed, that we have been able, without vio- 
lence, without force, without civil commotion to ac- 
complish that, which in other countries, the friends 
of rational liberty and good government dare not at- 
tempt; the answer is easy and satisfactory. It is 
to be found in the principles and habits of the people; 
in the religious and moral character of the inhabitants - 
of this state; in a state of society, derived originally 
from our ancestors; brought with them when they 
came to this country; preserved and improved by the 
institutions which they established, and the provisions 
which they made, and which are yet continued, for 
religious instruction, for general education, and for the 
general diffusion of knowledge and virtue. 


It is to your reverence for religion and its institu- 
tions, the general respect paid to the christian sabbath, 
and the worship of God in public assemblies, to the 
general diffusion of knowledge among all classes of 
people, and the system of education, by which provi- 
sion is made for extending competent means of instruc- 
tion to every family and every child. It is to these, 
that you owe that elevation of moral and intellectual 
character in the great body of the people, those sober 


23 


habits, and those just views, by which they are quali- 
fied for the enjoyment and the preservation of a free 
government; capable not only of selecting from among 
themselves, the men who are best qualified for the 
several offices in the administration of their govern- 
ment, but also of determining the great principles and 
rules upon which its administration shall proceed, of 
choosing the kind of government under which they 
will live. 


The considerations which discover to us the 
causes, to which we are to attribute those circum- 
stances in our condition, by which we are so happily 
distinguished, and for which we have so much cause 
to be grateful; point out to us also, and urge upon us, 
the means, by which a state of things so desirable, 
must be preserved. It can only be by a vigilant and 
faithful care of those institutions, to the influence of 
which we are so much indebted. Should it ever hap- 
pen, that the people of this state, losing their sense of 
the value of religion and the importance of education, 
should cease to make provision for their support; our 
school houses and places of religious worship, be de- 
serted, and suffered to go to decay, or be converted to 
other uses; and our sabbaths, instead of being con- 
secrated to religious retirement and social worship, 
become seasons of business or amusement; then will 
our children grow up in ignorance and irreligion, and 
in those habits fatal to all purity and elevation of 
character, of which irreligion and ignorance are the 
unfailing source. Throwing off their allegiance to 
God, what is to be expected, but that they will throw 
off their subjection to parental authority; having learn- 
ed to trample upon the laws of Heaven, that they will 
not be slow in casting off their respect for human laws ? 
Corruption thus introduced, by the neglect or perver- 
sion of education, how rapidly will the whole mass be 
contaminated! Nor will it be slow in passing from 
the people to the administration, and thence to the very 
principles of the goyernment. ‘Then instead of the 


"gress of improvement, will remain to shed their bless- 


24 


august spectacle this day before us, of the wisdom and 
virtue of the state assembled here, in the presence of 
God, and invoking his guidance and blessing, to legis- 
late for an enlightened, ‘and fr ee, and virtuous people, 
we should have an assembly of men whose recom: 
mendation to office and the public confidence, was 
their hostility to all that is most valuable in the char- 
acter, and habits, and institutions of the country. And 
how soon such a change in the character of the admin- 
istration would be followed by a correspondent change 
in the constitution under which they act, and in all 
those institutions, upon which the public order, the 
prevailing morals, and the prosperity chiefly pend; 
may easily be seen. 


Tf, with the enlightened views and liberal spirit 
of our holy religion, on the other hand, and following 


‘the maxims and the example of our fathers, we shall 


continue to make competent provision for the support 
of religious institutions, and a system of education, 
that shall extend to those, who are capable of becom- 
ing useful to the public in the most important stations, 
opportunities and means for the highest literary im- 
provements, and to all ranks of men such advantages 
as may qualify them to fill with propriety their place 
in the social body, make them capable of understand- 
ing the rights and the duties of citizens and of moral 
and accountable beings, and of feeling the influence of 
the highest and best motives in the conduct of life; 
we may feel secure of the permanence of a free gov- 
ernment, that it will gather strength with time, and 
become venerable by age, as it is beautiful and attrac- 
tive in youth; and that with it, all those imstitutions 


which we so much value, brought to a more perfect 


state, with the advancement of knowledge, and pro- » 


ings upon our children, when we shall be gone to . 
mingle our dust with the dust of our fathers. 


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